BO OK R E V I E W
Review of the Book Modelling Transport
T
his book illustrates the re-
search and knowledge of the
authors over the last 40 years
in transportation modelling. This
is a thorough and detailed update
(4th edition) of a very successful
title in the market Modelling Trans-
port that was first published back
in 1990. The new book observes
analytically the basic principles of
transport modelling in the last two
decades. This edition includes up-
dated content in (i) modelling for
private sector projects, (ii) activity-
based modelling, (iii) dynamic as-
signment and micro-simulation and
(iv) sizeable updates to the disag-
gregate modelling and Stated Pref-
erence sections. In addition modern
issues, such as congestion charging,
global warming and the role of GPS
in travel time surveys, are also dis-
cussed in this fourth edition.
The authors approach the sub-
ject from the point of view of a mod-
elling exercise, discussing theory,
data, model specification and es-
timation, validation and forecast-
ing. Modelling Transport could be
an excellent reference for scien-
tists following a Masters course
in transportation studies, since it
deals with interdisciplinary issues
of this field. However, the simple
and straightforward way in which
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MITS.2011.2178881
Date of publication: 27 January 2012
IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
Title: Modelling Transport,
4th Edition
Authors: Juan de Dios Ortzar
and Luis G. Willumsen
ISBN/ Press/Year:
978-0-470-76039-0/
Wiley Press/2011
Price: ;60.00
WWW link: http://eu.wiley.com/
WileyCDA/WileyTitle/
productCd-0470760397.html
the context is presented renders
the book useful for undergraduate
programs as well, mainly in civil
engineering.
The first three chapters of the
book are introductory. Chapter 1
provides an introduction to trans-
port planning issues and outlines
40
the view of the authors on the re-
lationship between planning and
modelling. Chapter 2 highlights
those analytical and statistical
skills that should be included in
order to have a sufficiently self-
contained book, while chapter 3
presents the basic methodology
tools and methods for valid scien-
tific experimentations.
Chapters 3 to 9, as well as 12 and
15 provide the necessary informa-
tion to deal with requirements in
transportation modelling. Several
important issues are covered, such
as trip generation and distribution
modelling, specification and esti-
mation of discrete choice models
and model transferability.
Chapters 4 to 6 and 10 to 12 pro-
vide the basic information for mod-
elling and equilibrium in trans-
port. Chapters 13, 14 and 16 cover
contemporary topics that are lately
gaining importance and focus the
attention of the scientific commu-
nity in those fields. Specifically,
taking into consideration the new
tendency that shifts the attention
from passenger issues to freight
and logistics issues, the authors
provide valuable information
based on their rich experience in
the field.
Ortzar and Willumsen have
avoided strict mathematical de-
tails of every model. Instead, they
choose to concentrate on basic
SPRING 2012
model principles, the identification of
their strengths and limitations, as well
as a description of their use. The level
of theory is sufficient for the reader
who would like to select and use the
models, while the examples efficiently
bridge the gap between theory and
practice. In this latest edition, the au-
thors mark with a shaded box all the
material which is up to date and/or
still under development, but is impor-
tant enough to be mentioned now.
Modelling Transport describes in a
comprehensible way the fundamen-
tal elements of transport demand
modelling. It covers a wide variety
of topics in transport planning, with
special emphasis on modelling, in-
cluding recent developments on other
subjects as well. Detailed references
are included, providing the original
sources and directions for further
reading. Each chapter comes with a
set of exercises and solved examples,
which would be very convenient for
students following MSc courses re-
lated to transport modelling.
To sum up, this book is one of the
best in its field, as it covers just about
everything a transport engineer has
S O C I E T Y N E WS (continued from page 38)
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IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
Table 1. Issues of transport modelling that are covered in this book.
Modelling of: Trip generation, trip distribution, data and space
Models: Simplified transport demand model, freight demand model, activity-based model,
aggregation model, transferability model, discrete choice model, modal split and
direct demand model
to know about modelling. A well- clear that the authors choose not to
intentioned comment for this book is focus on these. Instead, the state-of-
the fact that the authors decide not to the-art in transport modelling and its
place special emphasis on economic practical applications are presented in
aspects and economic evaluation pro- a pedagogic manner, which is easily
cedures. Although, the final chapter understandable to both engineers and
is dedicated to financial issues, it is practitioners.
Reviewer: Christos-Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos
Christos-Nikolaos E. Anagnostopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in
1975. He received his Mechanical Engineering Diploma from the National
Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree
from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dpt., NTUA in 2002.
From 2008, he serves the University of the Aegean as Assistant
Professor in the Cultural Technology and Communication Department.
He is a member of the Greek chamber of Engineers and member of
IEEE. His research interests include image processing, computer
vision, neural networks and intelligence transportation systems
applications. He has published more than 110 papers in journals and
conferences, in the above subjects as well as other related fields in informatics. He also serves
as associate editor for the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine.
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41 SPRING 2012